


Some Kind of Tricky

by Anonymous



Category: Hiveswap
Genre: Ficlet, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:29:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27826801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Truth is, the first time Joey needsyouto comforther, you're not sure what to do.*Contains act 2 spoilers*
Comments: 8
Kudos: 60
Collections: Anonymous





	Some Kind of Tricky

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to try my hand at Joey and Xefros's voices; I still have a long way to go! Anyone else wish they could have gone through the clown car as Xefros right at the end?  
> This fic was SUPPOSED to be a quick scene where you went through the clown car and had a conversation with Marvus, but that's not really where my writing took me. My writing... hasn't actually been taking me anywhere lately! Oof ouch my writer's block. Anyway, I'll probably rewrite this once I feel a little more up to the task. Thanks for reading!

Truth is, the first time Joey needs  _ you _ to comfort  _ her, _ you're not sure what to do.

What would the Tetrarch do? Quite frankly, you're not even sure if you care anymore what he'd do.

Tetrarch Dammek never prepared you for this situation; he used to act like he would be proud to cull someone for you. Once, you asked what he would do if it were the other way around: what would he do if he needed  _ your _ help? The memory of his laughter still stings- after all, he's the hero. He told you he'd contact one of the other tetrarchs. You wonder, with a bitter tang of jealousy, if he would have contacted Chixie.

You catch up with Joey on the railing. For the first time since you've seen her, she looks like a true rustblood: the same tired eyes, the same firm mouth. Beaten down and dejected. Your hands ache with the want to... something. Smooth her out, maybe. Flatten the wrinkle over her brow... But it's not like you want to touch her face or anything!! Not specifically! 

Which is fine, because what ends up happening is she touches you first. With a hesitant smile, her fingers pinch your sleeve, and before you know it, your hands find each others'.

"I don't want to go back through the clown car," Joey admits. But, even though there's real fear in her words, she doesn't look away. Wow, this is, haha, well you sure are close friends if she's acting like that! You can't believe you have a friend as cool and strong as Joey. 

"Don't worry," you say. "I'll protect you."

She gives you a look like she really believes what you're saying. Well, at least one of you does. And if your hand trembles as it turns the knob to the clown car, Joey certainly doesn't say anything.

The mood has subdued significantly. Barzum's seemed to quiet down; Chahut has her hand on Barzum's head and makes soothing noises towards a very visibly distressed Karako. You wonder if maybe Chahut killed her, and then you wonder how you'd feel about that. Would it be a mercy? This death stuff sure is hard to wrap your head around!

Marvus, though, doesn't seem the least interested in that. The moment you both entered the clown car, his eyes were on you. Or, you think maybe specifically on Joey. He reclines lazily on the cushion pile by the Hee-Hookah, blowing smoke from his nose like some kind of dragon lusus. One pink painted nail taps on his lower lip, a small smirk twitching at the corner of his mouth.

"Nice work, Jo," he calls with a wink. "You're really some kinda tricky, lol." Joey curls in on herself, glancing down and away. It's hard not to bristle at that, putting yourself between him and Joey on instinct alone. Maybe you're small and weak and stupid, and maybe Marvus could cull you with a flick of his stupid, manicured pinky finger. But you think Alternia is better with Joey in it, and what kind of revolutionary would you be if you denied your people that?

You don't even remember going up the elevator and exiting. All of your focus returns to Joey when she releases all of her tension the second the door closes behind you with a mocking "honk!" 

"See? Not so bad," you say with your usual rusty moxie. You usher her quickly through the blue car once you remember Baizli's body is still very dead and impaled on some spikes below you.

"Why did he do that to me?" Joey asks. The tone is so genuine that your heart hurts; you knew she was an alien, but you guess you never quite understood just how different an alien could be.

"Clowns..."  _ clowns are just like that.  _ You remember what Dammek said when Harlan killed your favorite olive blood on Slam or Get Culled. It didn't help then, and it won't help now. "...are hard to read," you finish lamely. "You couldn't have known. Nobody could."

"I think," you two have finally stopped in the cozy corridor between blue and teal. Joey puts her hands in her hoodie pockets, giving you another of her honest gazes. "I think I just wanted someone to be genuinely nice to me."

"I'm nice to you!" She smiles, and you continue. "And- and Skylla was nice to you! And Fiamet is genuinely nice, I think." Still, it's hard to take much stock in it when the bad guys are out there, too, and in so many numbers. 

Not for the first time on this trip, you wish you knew where your lusus was. All you want to do is curl up against his soft fur and let his body heat seep into you. 

Joey reaches her hand towards you, and it's the last thing you see before your world lights up in green and black.


End file.
